Provence 2022

Germaine Tailleferre is best known for being the only female member of the French group of composers known as Les Six, and her stylish combination of neo-Classicism with a ready wit and energy can be compared to Poulenc and Milhaud. From the captivating Romance written while still a student, to her sparkling music for the 1937 Paris international exhibition, all of these pieces show Tailleferre as being very much at the heart of the contemporary French musical scene. This recording, described by the composer’s granddaughter as being ‘as though Tailleferre herself was perfoming these works’, is the first of three volumes presenting the complete piano music played by Nicolas Horvath.

When pianist Martha Argerich and violinist Renaud Capuçon gave a recital at the 2022 Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival, their extraordinary rapport was evident to all present. Captured live, their programme included three major works for violin and piano, all in the key of A: Schumann’s Sonata No. 1 Op. 105, Beethoven’s Sonata No. 9 Op. 47, “Kreutzer”, and Franck’s Sonata.

For his debut on Warner Classics, Samoan tenor Pene Pati matches favourite showpiece arias with rarer operatic gems in a programme of Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Gounod and Benjamin Godard. Pati has been called “a revelation … stunning for his generosity of voice, top notes of apparently invincible power, and alluring timbre,“ (Forum Opéra) and praised for his “gleaming, sensuous stream of sound” (San Francisco Chronicle). A singer of glowing lyricism who establishes an immediate rapport with his audience, Pati hopes that the album will leave listeners with a sense of “warmth, tenderness, and the sincerity of storytelling. To me, this is the essence of opera and the reason why I sing.” He is joined by conductor Emmanuel Villaume and the Orchestre national Bordeaux Aquitaine.